My Experience In College

“Today is finally the day,” I thought with butterflies in my stomach as I hopped into my car and trekked forty miles to The University of Massachusetts Boston. Everyone’s first day as a college student is daunting and the nerves were definitely high that day. I was no longer attending a high school of a little over five hundred students, but rather a university with a total undergraduate enrollment of over twenty-two thousand students. This day was the start of a new chapter in my life and the University introduced entirely new opportunities for me to explore. Since the first day here, I have been submersed in a culturally diverse community that has challenged and allowed me to gain a new perspective of this world. The University of Massachusetts Boston is more than a school that I attend to gain a degree; it is a place where I continually learn and grow. I quickly fell in love with UMass Boston and only a few weeks into attending, found myself referring to it as my school. During my first year I was able to meet new people through my freshman success community and eventually form new friendships. Everything seemed to fall into place and my worries disappeared, but more personal challenge arose as the year continued on.

College is a great place to grow as a person, but you have to plan out what you will do in order to have the greatest experience possible. Without having a plan you will not be able to go forward with great confidence that you have made all of the right choices in college. This means you should not party and make bad decisions that will ruin your chances at making a great career out of your time and money that is going in for your education. I believe that you should not be part of the crowd that is only at school to party and to has fun, I believe that you should join a group that will help with your education and that you can still have a good time with. You should also have great relationships with your professors in order for you to go to them and talk about problems or issues that you are having with the classes you are taking and maybe they can give you advice on how you could improve in the class that you are struggling in, or maybe they can just be a person to talk to. Professors are great tools for you to use to start doing the best you can possibly do with the help and guidance that only professors can give.

For many, college is a time of self-discovery. It is a time where many find their calling in life, their spouse, their passion, or their student debt. Some may go so far as to call it the best time of their lives. While there is potential for me to eventually look back on my time at the University of Arizona with similar fondness, for now, I have more pressing issues than finding my soulmate, like finding my next classroom along with many other stressful situations. So far in my limited college experience, the major stressors in my life are religion, academics, and social interactions; however, there are several ways I have found to manage these situations.

There have been a few places where I been uncomfortable and have noticed many people’s mindsets such as being a growth or fixed mindset. The two places I will talk about where I have been the most uncomfortable are college and on the city bus. I will talk about what I’ve heard and I what I learned about how people think and how that can affect what others think about that person.

My first semester of college was in January I had just graduated high school in December and decided to attend Rappahannock community college for nursing. The road to the college I was attending was named route seventeen. Seventeen is a long stretch of windy, woodsy road that is known to be populated by deer. On the particular day of my accident It was pouring rain, the roads were slick with water so instead of taking my beetle convertible I decided to take my father's SUV. My boyfriend decided to accompany me to the college that day even though my parents did not know I had a boyfriend and I was not allowed to ride others in the car with me at the time.

My first year as a Higher Education Student in NUC had different experiences. I would describe some as exciting and life giving. Similarly, other experiences were challenging and disappointing. It was difficult to adapt in a new academic environment. I found it tough but life was not devoid of fun too. Meeting friends with different personalities made it possible for me to face academic life at NUC.

Well my first semester of college is nearly about to wrap up and I gained a ton of new knowledge that will last me a life time. It was just seven months ago that I graduated high school after twelve long years of public school. Now, it’s been seven months officially being on my own and being an adult where I need to take on new responsibilities in my life. There have been new obstacles, new strategies to overcome those obstacles, and new outcomes to these challenges.

“Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory,” a quote by George S. Patton, quite accurately epitomizes the experience of my first year at university. After being offered the Rogers scholarship, I knew that I would have to work extremely hard to make the sponsors and the Canadian Lyford Cay Foundation proud. Knowing this, I accepted the task. With taking on this challenge came many difficulties, triumphs, personal highlights, and, eventually, goals for my second year.

During my first week as a freshman in college, I was still wondering if I had made the right choice for myself. Intrigued if the major I had chosen was right for me, I decided to attend a workshop strictly for product design students. I wanted to meet people in my major and also get a taste of what I had gotten myself into. On my way to the event, I ran into a girl with short curly hair that seemed lost and looking for a specific classroom. I asked her if she was a freshman and, relieved, she replied that she was, wondering if it was my first time in that maze of a building too. The URBN Center is the building where all the design classes are, and accordingly, it has an intricate system of half floors that is eye-pleasing yet confusing to get around.

After I graduated High School, I moved to Logan, Utah to pursue my Bachelors at Utah State University. This move was actually quite easy. My mom drove down with me to help me move into my apartment and all of my belongings easily fit between our two cars. About halfway through the semester, everything kind of fell apart. I hated my program, I didn’t like the atmosphere of the university and I wanted out. It was not anything like I was hoping, and I decided I was definitely not going to stay. However, I wanted to finish out the semester and tie up all my loose ends before I transferred. After a couple weeks of heavy research, hours on the phone, and lots and lots of emails, I was set to transfer to Boise State University located in Boise, Idaho.

This semester was a journey I was not expecting. It turned out to be completely different from what I imagined, and I still can't decide if it turned out better or worse than I expected. At the beginning of the semester I was a constantly anxious and angry person, which happens to me every time after a long break. Coming to Capstone class I didn't know what to expect and how it will be connected to the field I am studying in. I am still confused about what exactly I learned in this class, but I will be describing everything I learned this semester from my outside of classroom commitments. In the middle of the semester I received a job offer with a City of Bridgeport. It was a 3-month finance internship with the office of Small and Minority Businesses. My classes were always my main priorities, however, once I accepted the offer, I knew that I'm not only representing myself, but my employer is judging the whole school based on my performance. This led me to the first change I've made this semester: change of priorities. This is important if I want to live a balanced and fulfilling life. Many people are successful in their career but don't have good relationships with their family because of wrong priorities. They put things like money and reputation above their relationships. And I used to do that a lot. My classes, work, and other commitments were always above any social interactions, whether it was family or friends. Yet, I realized that I do not fill accomplished if I

Growing up, I never saw myself as one of those people who graduate high school and then off to a four-year college they went. It was hard enough just to imagine attempting, let alone succeeding, at a two-year college. Even though, I had wondered what it might have been like to experience dorm life at a college in another town, even state. But, for me, after high school graduation, I was enrolled at the Community College.

Going to college is a whole knew experience, and it can be scary to some freshman. Going to college can be a great experience or it can not be a great experience it all depends on yourself. Going to college may mean bad eating habits, or there may be a high level of stress. Going to college may mean that it is the first time to be away from home all on your own. There are many aspects of being a freshman in college, and

Coming from a small town high school, I knew that my experience at the University would be a game changer. But, what I did not expect to go from being the best of the best in high school to thinking how am I going to survive not only this semester but, the next seven years of my life as well. I was a star student at my high school and I didn’t really have to try to make good grades, but here at the University of Memphis I am barely on the same level of the average student. I never seriously study in high school and I almost always procrastinated on my assignments, but always did well. I have learned that these habits will not work in college, but I have yet to brake them. I know my learning styles and always have and nobody knows me better than me, but I am still fumbling around trying to grasp this whole college thing. I have my goals that I want to accomplish at the university, my personal goals, and my story that I want to leave behind all in line and set up, but struggle with finding the right path to make those goals a reality. My experience as a college student as opened my eyes to a completely different way to approach education and I must evaluate and adjust myself to insure that I am successful, so I can reach each and every one of the goals I set for myself.

Imagine yourself on the very first day of school. Entering a new environment with many new people. The thought of making new friends was exciting. On the other hand, many were afraid to step into the classroom. A fear of what was to come lingered in their mind. Being shy is common among children and is often overcome with experience. As the youngest of the family, I was very shy. I had older siblings to look up to that would do the things that I feared most. However, going to school was an experience that would encourage me to open myself up to others, which was what I had feared most.